The objective of this work was to determine the inheritance of acylsugar contents in tomato genotypes, from the F2 generation of the third backcross of L. esculentum Mill. 'TOM-584', after the original cross with the wild accession L. pennellii 'LA-716'. Acylsugar contents in tomato leaflets were measured according to a methodology for reducing sugars determination. The data obtained were evaluated with chi-square tests of monogenic hypotheses of inheritance, under different presumed degrees of dominance, and also under genetic models with the maximum likelihood function, in which presence of a major gene and possible polygenes with additive and non additive effects were tested. For the different presumed degrees of dominance (DD) tested in an array between -0.7 and -0.4, the hypotheses of monogenic inheritance could not be rejected, indicating that high acylsugar contents are controlled by a recessive allele in a locus with incomplete dominance. Genetic models tested under the maximum likelihood function also confirmed the hypothesis of monogenic inheritance. Tomato plants with adequate levels of acylsugar-mediated resistance to arthropod pests can be efficiently obtained in backcross populations, derived from the interspecific cross L. esculentum x L. pennellii.
Lycopersicon esculentum; Lycopersicon pennelli; selection; allelochemicals; pest resistance
